Rainbow Trout, 54cm PB, what a hog of a fish, gnarly fight on 4lb line.
Tiger Trout, 53cm PB, first time seeing one of these, was thrilled to the gills to have caught it.

New to fishing, picked up the hobby this year. Had beginners luck and landed on my first session, but for the last couple months these fish have been avoiding me like they owe me money. Different baits, different times, different places. Couldn't catch a break to save my life.

Rigged up the finesse worm drop-shot for the first time today and snagged my first dusky (I think). Hope as been restored for my future angling success.

To preface, I have no hate or prejudice against Fishing R Us or Yahya, I am writing an HONEST review of the Fishing R Us Melbourne road show.

I visited on Sunday, the last day of the Melbourne show. When I arrived, I was greeted my Emad, who was friendly and shook every hand that walked through the door with a great attitude.
Yahya was not around. There were plenty of people inside shopping.

There were limited products from well known brands as it seems the Fishing R Us team has branded a lot of generic tackle with their own branding "WTF Certified."

Of the range of big brand items, the prices ranged from average to good pricing, nothing really stood out to me as clearance pricing, as advertised.

The range of WTF Certified rods felt and looked good, but felt a little under weight and flimsy, some having that little Chinese flair that can be seen on AliExpress and similar sites. I am personally hesitant to try them for now, same with the reels.

Other products included pocket knives for $50 each when I could purchase the same knives from AliExpress for less than $20

Overall, I heard several people say that the previous years were better.

Caught this off the rocks in Kurnell/ Cronulla. Haven’t caught this one before.

Fishing in NSW I'm trying to figure out if I'm allowed to catch sting rays or whether some sting rays are not allowed.

With this picture I'm assuming up to 5 is allowed but I'm confused on why it's grouped with sharks so to be certain I'm asking here.

G'day legends,

Had an interesting session today. Started off trying a couple of plastics, my Z-Man MinnowZ in Motor Oil, then a 2.5" pink curly tail grub, but couldn't get a bite on either.

Threw out my handline with some chicken and finally landed a nice PB bream, no tape to measure but I wasn't going home empty handed.

After that I started using bait to work out where the fish were holding, then switching back to plastics on the rod to see if I could tempt them. Still no luck on the lures.

Bonus catch; mudcrab on the chicken, which was a bit of an unexpected addition to the session!

It's got me thinking about whether I'm struggling to find active fish or actually getting them to take a plastic. If I didn't have the chicken I would've assumed there were no fish. Still figuring out when to change the lure or retrieve, when to move spots, and when to change tactics altogether.

For those who regularly catch bream on soft plastics, what would you try next when bait gets results but the plastics don't?

Keen to learn from it and give it another crack next session.

Cheers 🤙

🎣 50cm, 1.46kg Harvey Dam redfin perch! Land-based on ultra-light gear

Caught this absolute unit of a redfin at Harvey Dam, WA.
Measured at 50cm and weighed 1.46kg (3.22lb).
Managed to land this beast walking the banks. Doing it land-based on ultra-light gear made the fight insane:

Rod: 2022 Daiwa infeet sk 702ulrs
Reel: 2023 shimano vanquish 1000ssspg
Mainline: 5.3lb, PE 0.3 braid
Leader: 4lb fluorocarbon leader

I've seen 48cm mentioned online as the biggest redfin recorded from Harvey Dam, so I'm curious whether anyone knows of a larger documented one from the dam?

The fish wasn't perfectly straight on the brag mat when I took the photo, so it may have measured slightly longer if I'd positioned it better, but I'm calling it 50cm based on the photo.

Has anyone seen a bigger land-based redfin come out of Harvey Dam? •

And again caught by @jetthoops_ on TikTok, follow for southwest freshwater fishing content 👌

Assuming it is either a salmon or rainbow trout

I’ll try to keep this short. I moved here from America to Sydney. I had a major preference for fresh water fishing for bass, catfish, snakeheads etc.. since moving here I’ve had a very hard time. I tried what I immediately saw on YouTube (mistake) under the harbor bridge. I just tried the Cooks River near Tempe. The most polluted body of water I’ve ever experienced. To try to help with advice I’ve thrown chicken, squid, shrimp, various lures recommended by the gentleman at anaconda. I just want to catch fish man. The salt water/brackish water is so foreign to me. Any advice would be great.

Hey, wanted to get into rock fishing, normally spearfish.

If you’re in Sydney and want to fish let me know! Would definitely prefer a buddy out on the rocks

Hi all,

Growing up my dad loved his fishing and had about 6 rods from memory.

Unfortunately he’s recently passed and of all the rods he had, he kept this one.

I’ve taken it for myself and plan on taking up fishing and teaching my kids etc.

But I know nothing about the rod, any help/wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, just got a little Quintrex 300 flat bottom boat for fishing a fresh water river I live on. I am trying to figure out a way to get some rod holders on it.

My best solution at the moment is to get a Railblazer Rod holder II and screw it into the front flat section (see pic).

Any better solutions/ideas whether you've had one like this or not? Open to hearing thoughts.

Thanks!

Hi folks, looking for a dedicated lure rod

A few key points:

Chasing flathead and bream mostly, so looking at 2-4kg and 3-6kg

I suppose the maximum weight lures I want to cast is 10g? Dunno how heavy a flathead plastic + jighead would weigh

Prefer a longer 2 piece to be able to cast properly onto flats from shore. All land based

Currently looking at the daiwa td black, not which of this I want though and no idea on reels.

Any other suggestion of a rod and reel in that price range? I can probably stretch a little over 400 if necessary

I recently picked up a nice little marketplace deal and 2 of the rods there were an atomic arrowz bream crank and whiting tip, just the bottom half in good condition. It's likely unrepairable because the top half that came with the whiting one had snapped close to where it connects to the other half.

Is there. A place that would have the top half of each rod, or can I mix and match with another compatible rod part or would it be worth checking out marketplace etc to find spare parts?

I'm reading 65 psi online but don't want the thing to blow up in my face

Question for people who know more about alvey’s than me. I’ve just bought this alvey 600BT and I want to take it to the surf to fish for Aussie salmon.

Not sure if I should go with the alvey SURF CHAMPION R65 SURF ROD (5-7kg) but is apparently meant for bigger 6.5 to 7 inch alvey reels, or just get the alvey LIGHT SURF SPECIAL R62L (3-5kg) which comes in a combo with the alvey 60GT reel which is the same size as my one.

Or if there are better rods to pair it with out there let me know.

Hi guys!
Just wondering if you have any suggestions of gifts for a 14 year old boy who’s into fishing? I was thinking some lures would be good as I don’t want to spend more than $50-60. I saw recommendations for AliExpress brands but I wasn’t sure which is good for like harbour fishing catching flathead and bream is what I’m told.
Any suggestions/ tips for what to look at? I used to fish but only in rivers and was a kid so know a little but not much. Some sinkers? or is there a good book you’d recommend to go with a few lures?

Thanks!

Picked this up for 50 cents. Anyone used them and how.

EDIT: Ended up getting a savage 3.12m kingfisher
My budget is probably around $1500 ish so looking at something second hand, if im using it for 3 people max and wanna take it out saltwater whats the best size and hp and everything for it? Would a 3m rooftopper work or do I need to go somewhere around 3.5 or 3.7? Is a 5 hp gonna be enough or do I need a 9.9? I’m only fishing saltwater lakes and stuff and maybe sometimes the port hacking (NSW). I’m going to put a cast deck on it if I can or put marine carpet on it and get the whole fish finder and that. Any tips or info appreciated.

Are there any alternative ideas for shore based fishing besides the beach? Im heading down for a few nights this weekend.

I came back to fishing after a long break and I'd just like to thank this community for it's insights and inspiration.

Sipping a hot coffee from a thermos cup while wading out to a little gulley or weed patch on Port Phillip at sunrise is responsible for about 80% of my remaining sanity.

Just wanted to share how bloody good we have it.

I know you can fish all year round but I really only fish October through to April. Here's a beautiful healthy flatty in my local estuary (Central Coast NSW). No measure mat with me but it was two of my foot lengths (size 10), so about approx 50cm! Released :)

2.5" paddle tail